[applause] and his son, michael. where did michael go? there he is. they have produced the kennedy center honors for 35 years now. tonight we continue a tradition of the white house by honoring extraordinary people who have no business being on the same stage together. [laughter] uy sitting nextot dustin hoffman. all three living members of led zeppelin in one place. so this is a remarkable evening and speaks to something that has always made this country great, the idea that here in america, more than any other place on earth, we are free to follow passions, explore our own gifts and people from all over the world come here to make sure that they, too, can be provided this incredible gift. tonight honoree's did not take up the craft to make a living, but they did it because they could not imagine living in the other way. that passion took each of them from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of their profession. tonight in the people's house we have a chance to say thank you. grow way up as the sun of a sharecropper in louisiana, buddy guy made his fir